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How the Big Mac was born: As iconic burger turns 50 today, a look back at the man who invented and who didn’t make a cent

・Michael James ‘Jim’ Delligatti came up with the recipe for the Big Mac and its special sauce at one of his Pennsylvania McDonald’s franchise stores

・He repeatedly tried to get McDonald’s on board with a double-patty burger but company officials turned him down

・They eventually relented and said the sandwich must be made of ingredients already used by McDonald’s – but he sourced the sesame seed bun elsewhere

・The Big Mac – which was first sold in 1967 under different names – proved a hit and was rolled out across the US the following year

・A 1974 jingle listing the Big Mac’s ingredients became famous and fueled the popularity of the sandwich

・McDonald’s executive Ray Kroc praised franchisees for creating products such as the Big Mac – but Delligatti said he received a plaque, not a financial windfall

・Delligatti died in 2016 at the age of 98 – and ate weekly Big Macs well into his old age, according to his family

come up with (phrasal verb)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” to think of something such as an idea or a plan “というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

Is that the best you can come up with?

She’s come up with some amazing scheme to double her income.

They came up with a plan to make us more efficient.

Next you need to come up with a name for your product.

on board (phrasal verb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” as part of a group or team, especially for a special purpose:“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

Let’s bring Rob on board for the Saudi deal – he’s the expert.

Welcome to the team. It’s great to have you on board.

To relent (verb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” to change your mind about not allowing something to happen or not letting someone do something“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

The security guard relented and let them through.

My parents finally relented and let us go to the party.

roll out (phrasal verb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” to introduce a new product or service“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

Australia will roll out the prototype of its new jet fighter in January.

A media campaign is expected to roll out early next year.

plaque (noun)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” a flat piece of metal or stone that is hung on a wall or building for decoration, or to give information“というふうに記載されていますね。

windfall (noun)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” an amount of money that you win or receive from someone unexpectedly: ” というふうに記載されています。

例文：

Investors each received a windfall of £3,000.

windfall profits

If corporate McDonald’s had had its way 50 years ago, the Big Mac wouldn’t exist – but the dogged determination of a World War II veteran catapulted the sandwich into culinary history, and it’s remained a favorite meal world-wide ever since.

The man behind the Big Mac was a native of Western Pennsylvania named Michael James ‘Jim’ Delligatti, an Army sergeant who’d hitchhiked across the US following the war, eventually working in drive-ins and carhops in California. He returned to his home state and opened a fast-food joint of his own with a business partner in Pittsburgh in 1953; two years later, he fatefully went to a restaurant convention in Chicago where McDonald’s had a booth.

‘He thought he could do better with some costs, so he signed up with them to open a franchise in Western Pennsylvania,’ his son, Michael, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2016 after his father’s death at the age of 98.

Delligatti opened up his first McDonald’s on McKnight Road in Pittsburgh in 1957, and he went on to become a prolific franchisee. Within the next decade, however, he had come to believe that he could build a better sandwich that would boost his profits.

‘He’d opened some restaurants at that point, and he was looking to improve and gain more sales,’ Michael told the newspaper. ‘He wanted to create a larger sandwich that people would really like. He asked McDonald’s and they turned him down several times. Finally, they said OK.’

dogged (adjective)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” very determined to do something, even if it is very difficult: ” というふうに記載されています。

例文：

Their success was due to the dogged determination of their coach.

Her ambition and dogged determination ensured that she rose to the top of her profession.

Cambridge Dictionaryによると ” a person who serves food at a drive-in restaurant (= one where people eat their meals in their cars)“というふうに記載されていますね。

go on to do (verb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” to do something after doing something else“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

They eventually went on to win the championship.

She admitted her company’s responsibility for the disaster and went on to explain how compensation would be paid to the victims.

fatefully (adverb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると形容詞 fatefulの意味は ” having an important and usually negative effect on the future:“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

the fateful day of President Kennedy’s assassination

He made the fateful decision to send in the troops.

Since that fateful day her life had not been worth living.

prolific (adjective)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” producing a great number or amount of something:“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

He was probably the most prolific songwriter of his generation.

Rabbits and other rodents are prolific (= have a lot of babies).

the team’s most prolific goal-scorer

her prolific imagination

a prolific species of fish

The company gave him permission as long as he used ingredients already available within a McDonald’s kitchen, though he flouted the rules a bit with his tinkering – in a move that would rake in billions for the fast-food giant.

‘He was fooling around and came up with the Big Mac. But the buns he had wouldn’t work because the meat would slide around. So he went to a local bakery and got a double cut bun with sesame seeds, which was more visually appealing,’ his son said.

The next step was to develop the special sauce, though the family remains ‘sworn to secrecy on that,’ his son said. (In 2012, however, a corporate chef may have shared that secret, releasing a video that demonstrated how to make the special sauce. The ingredients? Mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, yellow mustard, white wine vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika.)

Delligatti first began selling the sandwich – which initially went by different names, such as The Aristocrat and the Blue Ribbon Burger – at his franchise in Uniontown, about an hour outside of Pittsburgh, in 1967 for 45 cents. He later acknowledged the Big Mac’s similarity to a popular sandwich sold by the Big Boy chain.

‘This wasn’t like discovering the light bulb. The bulb was already there. All I did was screw it in the socket,’ the franchisee said, according to Behind the Arches.

‘He was often asked why he named it the Big Mac, and he said because Big Mc sounded too funny,’ his son said in an interview two years ago.

What was no joke, however, was the Big Mac’s popularity – reflected by a marked uptick in sales.

‘At one time we were the lowest-volume store of any large city,’ Delligatti told The Los Angeles Times in 1993. ‘A few years after the Big Mac introduction, we became the largest – a distinctionwe held for a couple of years.

Despite the initial reluctance of McDonald’s officials, they approved the burger and began selling nationally the year after Delligatti devised it.

It would become a cultural phenomenon not just in the United States but across the globe, as the Golden Arches became a firmer fixture in cities internationally. The popularity of the Big Mac would be fueled even further by a jingle listing all of its ingredients: ‘Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun.’

To flout (verb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” to deliberately refuse to obey a rule or custom“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

Skateboarders know they will be prosecuted if they flout the law.

The orchestra decided to flout convention/tradition, and wear their everyday clothes for the concert.

He conducted business in his pajamas to flout convention.

To tinker (verb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” tinker or tinker around to make small changes to something in order to improve or repair it ” というふうに記載されています。

例文：

He spends hours tinkering around with car engines.

Problems can arise when management structures are tinkered with.

He spends every weekend tinkering (around) with his car.

I wish the government would stop tinkering with the health service.

rake in (phrasal verb)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” to earn or get a large amount of money: ” というふうに記載されています。

例文：

He rakes in over $200,000 a year.

She‘s really raking it in (= making a lot of money).

A lot of computer engineers nowadays are raking it in.

fool around (phrasal verb)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” to change something a little, esp. in order to try to make it better: “というふうに記載されています。

例文：

Sometimes when you start fooling around with a recipe, all sorts of unexpected things happen.

swear to (verb)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” to be completely certain of something “というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

I can’t swear to it, but I think I saw Joan yesterday.

light-bulb moment (noun)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると ” a moment when you suddenly realize something or have a good idea: “というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

It was a light-bulb moment for me when I realized I could no longer go on without help.

I like to tell the children about the big light bulb moment that led to my getting published.

uptick (noun)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると ” an increase in something:“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

We can see some uptick in activity in the marketplace.

distinction (noun)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” an unusual achievement or feature that makes someone or something different from other people or things“というふうに記載されていますね。

To devise (verb)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” to invent a plan, system, object, etc., usually using your intelligence or imagination:“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

They’ve devised a scheme to allow students to study part-time.

He’s good at devising language games that you can play with students in class.

The cartoon characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown were devised by Charles M. Schultz.

He devised a new way to treat mental depression.

The advertising power of the jingle – created in 1974 by a New York advertising agency – was further enhanced by a promotion in which people on the street were awarded a free Big Mac if they could recite the song in four seconds or less.

Twelve years after the creation of the famous jingle, The Economist invented the Big Mac index ‘as a lighthearted guide to whether currencies are at their “correct” level,’ according to the publication. The index shows whether a currency is overvalued or undervalued based on the cost of a Big Mac in one country relative to the cost in another.

‘Burgernomics was never intended as a precise gauge of currency misalignment, merely a tool to make exchange-rate theory more digestible,’ the Economist explains. ‘Yet the Big Mac index has become a global standard, included in several economic textbooks and the subject of dozens of academic studies. For those who take their fast food more seriously, we also calculate a gourmet version of the index for 48 countries plus the euro area.’

The Big Mac, however, wasn’t Delligatti’s only contribution to the national McDonald’s menu; he shrewdly began offering hotcakes and sausage to steelworkers coming off their overnight shifts.

To recite (verb)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” to say a piece of writing aloud from memory, or to publicly say a list of things: ” というふうに記載されています。

例文：

He was nervous about reciting in front of the class.

He recited his poem in front of the whole school.

She proudly recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

The opposition party recited a long list of the government’s failings.

relative to (phrase)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” compared with ” というふうに記載されています。

例文：

The amount of petrol a car uses is relative to its speed. ​

light-hearted (adjective)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” happy and not serious: “というふうに記載されています。

例文：

The documentary takes a lighthearted look at the world of filmmaking.

a light-hearted look at the week’s events

precise (adjective)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” exact and accurate “というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

There is no precise definition of a storm.

Can you be a bit more precise?

gauge (noun)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると ” a device for measuring the amount or size of something: “というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

the fuel/pressure gauge

Productivity is an important gauge of economic performance.

It’s not easy to get any kind of accurate gauge of what young people think about this.

alignment (noun)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” the position that something is in when it is straight or in the correct place in relation to other things“と、” the organization of activities or systems so that they match or fit well together“というふうに記載されていますね。

digestible (adjective)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” food that is digestible is easily changed into substances that your body needs“と、” fdigestible information is easy to understand“というふうに記載されていますね。

gourmet (noun/adjective)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” someone who knows a lot about good food and wine ” と、” gourmet food is of a very high quality ” というふうに記載されています。

例文：

gourmet coffee

a gourmet meal

She is a gourmet cook.

shrewdly (adverb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると形容詞shrewdは、” able to judge people and situations very well and to make good decisions ” というふうに記載されています。

例文：

She shrewdly predicted the stock market crash.

He’s a very shrewd businessman.

a shrewd marketing strategy

It was the Big Mac, however, that firmly earned him a place in the history not only of the company but in popular culture.

‘In franchising, there’s always this set playbook and you have to follow it. Jim saw an opportunity to go outside the playbook because he knew the customer,’ Ann Dugan, a former assistant dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business and an expert on business franchises, told the Associated Press in 2016. ‘He persevered and (McDonald’s) listened, and the rest is history.’

Ray Kroc – the businessman who turned McDonald’s into a global success story – acknowledged Delligatti’s contribution in his autobiography, writing: ‘Nobody could argue with the success of menu additions such as the Filet-o-Fish, the Big Mac, Hot Apple Pie, and Egg McMuffin.

autobiography は自伝です。

‘The most interesting thing to me about these items is that each evolved from an idea of one of our operators. So the company has benefited from the ingenuity of its small businessmen while they were being helped by the system’s image and cooperative advertising muscle.’

Delligatti, however, insisted he never made billionsoff the savory invention.

‘All I got was a plaque,’ he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2007.

playbook (noun)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” a set of rules or suggestions that are considered to be suitable for a particular activity, industry, or job: ” というふうに記載されています。

dean (noun)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると” an official of high rank in a college or university who is responsible for the organization of a department or departments: “というふうに記載されています。

That year marked Delligatti’s opening of the McDonald’s Big Mac Museum restaurant in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania – featuring a 14-by-12-foot statue of the famed sandwich. The free museum, which is also a functioning restaurant, displays an array of Big Mac boxes from over the years, as well as the first Big Mac bun toaster and other memorabilia.

Fittingly, there’s also a bronze bust of Delligatti himself, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 98 (and continued to enjoy weekly Big Macs well into old age.)

‘Delligatti was a legendary franchisee within McDonald’s system who made a lasting impression on our brand,’ the company said at the time.

The Big Mac recipe has remained unchanged since Delligatte first invented it in Western Pennsylvania, though changing food trends and newer chains have dented its popularity somewhat. A McDonald’s franchisee fretted in 2016 that only one out of five millennials has tried the sandwich. The Big Mac had ‘gotten less relevant,’ the franchisee wrote in a memo, according to the Wall Street Journal. McDonald’s then ran promotions designed to introduce the Big Mac to more people.

less relevantで、あまり関係 / 関連性がないです。

But Michael Delligatti – himself a franchisee – remains optimistic about the lasting popularity of his father’s famous burger.

‘What iconic sandwich do you know that can beat the Big Mac as far as longevity?’ Michael Delligatti said.

To mark (verb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” to celebrate something “というふうに記載されています。

例文：

A ceremony was held to mark the occasion.

famed (adjective)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” known by many people for a particular quality or achievement “というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

a restaurant famed for its seafood

It’s a city famed for its ski slopes and casinos.

the famed Chinese strategist Sun Tzu

functioning (adjective)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” the ability of something to work correctly “というふうに記載されていますね。

memorabilia (noun)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると ” objects that are collected because they are connected with a person or event that is thought to be very interesting:“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

an auction of pop memorabilia

Beatles memorabilia

old cinema memorabilia

bust (noun)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” a model of the head and shoulders of a person made out of stone, wood, metal etc“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

a bust of Shakespeare

a bust of George Washington

To dent (verb/noun)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” a place where a surface has been pushed or knocked inwards “と、” to have a bad effect on something “というふうに記載されています。